JT's Son
by goldengreaser
Summary: Casper's father wanted the world for him.
1. Anniverery

**Disclaimer- I do not own **_**Casper.**_** This is my first Casper Fic. **

It was quiet, too quiet for Whipstaff Manor. Kat wasn't used to the silence. The trio was usually up to one sort of mischief or another. They were rude crude, loud and obnoxious. Kat felt more often than not that the trio was a bunch of frat boys rather than deceased middle-aged souls. That was about the maturity level they had.

They were probably off with her father. While she didn't understand the friendship she couldn't knock it. At least he had friends. If they were three obnoxious ghosts, well so be it. At least they had promised not to let him get drunk. Because as apathetic as they were to the living somehow killing their "favorite fleshy" again did not appeal to them

She wondered vaguely where Casper was. It wasn't like him not to make an appearance. She liked his company. Casper was; well he made her less lonely. Kat stood up and began to wander around the house.

"Casper." She cupped her hands to her mouth. "Casper…."

She sighed. Where was he? "Casp……"

And then she heard it, crying? Could ghosts cry? She never really thought about it. It seemed they could do just about anything else. Crying should be no small feat…

She opened the nearest door. The room was dark and dingy. Casper was sitting on the bed. He was looking at something.

"Casper, are you okay?" Kat sat on the bed. She could feel the dust fly in the air. Kat coughed.

"Oh hi Kat." He sounded, so, so sad.

"Casper?"

"Sorry Kat, I was just…" he paused. "Remembering…" Kat smiled.

"But it's good Casper, to remember, isn't it." He gave a ghostly shrug. Kat leaned over to see what he was looking at. It was a picture. In the dim light she could barely make out that it was of a man and a boy. She put a hand to her mouth. She knew that boy, Casper.

"Is that…"

"Umhmm."

"That's you and your dad isn't it?" He nodded. Kat felt bad. Casper always listened to her talk about her mother. She had taken for granted that the more he remembered about his life the more Casper might miss his family.

Kat got closer to Casper. So close she could feel the cold air come off his, could she say body? "You miss him, don't you?"

He nodded. Kat spied something in his ghostly hands. A newspaper. There was a picture of his father in it. "Can I?"

Casper nodded. "Umhmmm." He replied gloomily. Kat took the paper and squinted to read in the shallow light.

**Saturday October 4, 1911**

**Friendship Gazette**

_Three days ago one of Friendship's most infamous citizens passed away at the Maine Hospital for the Clinically Insane. Inventor J.T. McFadden, age 55 passed after fighting a bout of acute influenza. McFadden was admitted to the hospital four years prior after ramblings of seeing the ghost of his young son Casper. Casper McFadden died of pneumonia at the age of twelve in the winter of eighteen ninety five. Since that time inhabitants of our town have noted strange sounds admitting from the McFadden home. _

_McFadden leaves behind his three half brother's Stephen, Gregory and Walter McFadden. His will is in contest having left his entire state to his deceased son…_

Kat dropped the paper. "Oh Casper…. That's… that's today.."

Casper shrugged. "I forgot Kat. I forgot until today. Is that bad?"

Kat pulled a stray hair behind her ear. "No, its just, its sad. You loved him a lot didn't you?"

Casper sighed. "I think I did. Something's I remember, some not so much. I remember missing him when he went away and then after awhile I just forgot. He risked everything for me and I forgot him."

Kat had nothing to say. She sighed. "I'm sure he knows how sorry you are Casper. It wasn't your fault."

Casper sighed. Kat wished briefly that Casper could be alive once more, his father's wish. She wasn't completely sure how to comfort a ghost. "You'd never forget your mom, not for good."

Kat bit her lip. "You remember him now though."

Casper nodded. "What do you remember?"

Casper went invisible. Kat decided that if she wanted answers she would have to fund them herself. She went up into the attic.


	2. From the Journal of JT McFadden

**Disclaimer I do not own **_**Casper**_

**From the Journal of J.T McFadden**

**June 3****rd**** 1887**

_Today we buried my dearest Emily. I do not know what dark places my mind might find itself wander to were it not for the angel she has left me. Casper is my light now. I must devote myself to him or lose myself entirely to my morbid thoughts. Beautiful Emily shall never see our son into manhood or another babe into this world. _

_My half brothers stood on the outskirts of the grave with their mother, her health failing. I cannot expect much in the way of their help I am sure for they are worldly lads with little care for the weight of life. They prefer the frivolity of drink and woman, young and childish as they are. And I might be inclined to join them and escape such darkness but I cannot bare to leave my son, my Casper. _

_Casper was silent as we lowered her and merely held fast to my hand. I have never in my life met such a sweet disposition. As I tucked him into bed his tiny blue eyes looked up at me and he asked if he might see his mama tonight. I could hardly contain myself. To tell him he shall not see his mama ever again makes my heart ache. If only I could bring her back to him. But I can not. _

**October 10****th**** 1890**

_My Casper astounds me with his large heart and capacity for kindness. My brothers have come once more to Whipstaff, having spent their inheritances. They take joy in jesting him. Admittedly they can be quiet harsh but Casper takes it all in with a smile. He is wary of his uncles but even they admit he is a marvelous child. _

_He lights up my days with such sunshine that my bereaved life should have darkened. He is the greatest treasure Emily could have given me. For all our wealth nothing could compare. How fitting then is his name? _

_I took him to the wharf today and we played pirates. He wore such a glorious smile that I could not but help to share it. I bought him a grand pirates cap while in town. He wore it so proudly. He looked so dapper in the hat blue as the eyes he shared with my deepest Emily. _

_There is not a thing in this world I could deny him. The housekeeper suggests I send him off to boarding school but I cannot bare to imagine my life without his company. Even in my laboratory I cannot keep myself from his presence. Somehow it seems my inventions are so much the better with his bright smile by my side._

**January 5****th**** 1895**

_Casper is truly the love and joy of my life. When he smiles I feel my heart melt. He will grow into a fine young man some day. For now I must enjoy doting on him while I can. I truly do enjoy dotting on him. Casper is a surprisingly unselfish boy making this a particularly easy thing to do. _

_My son asks for very little that when he asked for the sled at Brookermen's Store I felt sore for telling him he could not have it. I had my misgivings. My son has never ridden a sled. It would be far too dangerous. Casper lulled about the manor for days after this. My misgivings aside, I bought the sled._

_When he came down the stairs for breakfast his eyes twinkled. I have never seen him filled with more joy and rapture. He hugged my neck and, uttered his gratitude over and over He rushed through his meal with such voracity that I thought he might choke. _

_He was quick to put on his coat and head out of doors. I watched him for an hour then went to my laboratory, his laughter still echoing in my ears. I came upstairs to have my supper when I realized Casper was nowhere to be found. I ran franticly outside to find him sliding down the hill. _

_It took another hour for me to lure him inside. As soon as he got indoors Casper was asleep. What a time I had carrying him to bed. He is starting to get too big for such things._

Kat sat the journal down on the floor. She knew what happened next. Casper had told her as much. She didn't know if she wanted to know what had been going on in his father's mind. Casper's dad had really loved him. She remembered those awful seconds she thought she had lost her only family, her nerd of a dad. The feeling was gut retching. Kat could only imagine what it would be like to lose a child.

Still she had to read. She had to read for some clue, some clue to cheer up Casper or something. Or maybe it was just morbid curiosity. You did not usually bring up death in polite conversation.

**January 7****th**** 1895**

_I can scarce bring my pen to write the words but I most. Casper has fallen ill and I would be remiss to say I am not sore afraid. He coughs with such intensity that a fear he may break a rib. His face is pale and taunt. His forehead burns with fever and he is in agony. _

_I can do nothing but to stay by his side. I have sent for the doctor and wait on his arrival impatiently. Casper shivers if though cold but I have wrapped him tightly in many a quilt. He won't stop talking._

_Later_

_The doctor has left us and my worst fears have come to life. Casper is so very ill. He is down with pneumonia. My boy, my poor boy. I have given him a large amount of bourbon in hopes it will help him sleep peacefully. I most have spent an hour just holding his hand. Amazing how much younger he seems ill._

_I am so afraid for him, my Casper. He asked before falling asleep if I might send for his uncles. I can scarcely write why he asked for them, to say goodbye. My son shall not die. I shall do all in my power to see to that. I shan't leave his side._

Kat looked at the next page, shivering. It was tear stained. She had to force herself to read onward.

**January 11****th****, 1895**

_Words can not do justice to the grief I carry. Today I buried my son, by beautiful treasure beneath the earth. For all my intelligence, for all my wealth I could do nothing to save him. I can scarcely breath for the grief I feel. I have nothing now to pull me from the dark recesses of my mind. My boy, my poor boy. _

_He went in his sleep two nights ago.. I left but a moment to use the lavatory and when I returned my boy was gone. That he was asleep is the one grace in all of this I suppose But my boy may Casper…. I can hardly imagine my life without him. I miss him terribly already as it is. _

_I would be remiss and mistaken if I were not to say he had a lovely service. The day had cleared and was sunny and cool. He would have loved it so. Casper loved the out of doors. Oh how it hurts to write of him as if he were no longer here. He was buried beside his mother wearing the pirate grab he adorned last fall at a town hall masquerade. He looked so little in his coffin, my heart ached._

_My brothers are staying at Whipstaff. I wish whole heartedly that I could say their presence helped to squelch my grief but I cannot. My brother's never really were kind to their nephew much to my chagrin. I have no doubt in their own anomalous way they were cruel because they cared but I only wished they could have shown Casper some kindness. He loved them so. _

_They have been of no comfort to me, showing no sign of empathy or grief. As soon as word reached them that my Casper had left this world they promptly headed to the nearest brothel to intoxicate themselves with woman and spirits. I can scarce believe their audacity._

_The house is so lonely without his laughter to fill the old halls. I can not fathom spending the rest of my days in such bitter forlornness. _

**Jaunary 12****th****, 1895**

_It was my belief at first that I was made maddened by grief. For no other logical explanation could exist for what has occurred this night. I had locked myself within Casper's room wishing to take in every thing that was my son, my Casper. I stared and stared at his ball and glove remembering how he loved to toss that ball up and down, up and down. I felt the soft sheets he had slept and died in. I looked out the window to the view he was so found of. And then it happened. The hairs on the back of my neck prickled. I turned around. My whole body stiffened and my teeth chattered. A ghost, it was a ghost. And then I saw them, the blue eyes._

_But it couldn't be. It wasn't logical and yet…. "Casper?" I asked slowly._

_The ghost stared back at me. "Do I know you?" I could scarcely hold back my cry of alarm. The voice was slightly different but it was Casper's all the same. The ghost was my boy and he did not know me from a stranger._

_My shoulders shook with grief and I could scarcely stop myself from crying. "Oh Casper, do you not know your own papa?"_

_My son's spirit looked upon me and stared. He tilted his head and his eyes widened. His face grew sad and forlorn. His mouth opened into a small whole and then he spoke. "Dad?"_

"_Oh Casper." I made to touch him but he was so cold I withdrew my hand. _

_My eyes watered. Oh the pain I felt for my son. I vowed then I would bring him back. He would live again. My son would have his body back, his life. If it took me a hundred years I would not cease until I succeeded in this._

Kat bit her lip. She could feel wet tears slide down her cheeks. She had known Casper's death had been a sad one and that he had stayed behind for his father's sake. But Kat could not have guessed there was so much to the story. She recalled very vividly still those few moments her father did not know here. She had been so sad. But to have your child not know you…… Kat flipped the pages and read the final pages of the diary.

**August 14****th**** 1907**

_I have almost completed the Lazarus. I cannot say if it will work the way I have planned but I can only hope. Casper has been a great assistance to me in my endeavors though he has little corporal form. He can grasp things with his ghostly hands and helps where he can. I applaud my son in his endeavors though his greatest achievement is the smile he places on my face._

_For all the years that have passed, my son has aged naught. His mind is ever the twelve year old whose body left from under him all those years ago. I find solace in our games of pirates and baseball. Though my body is growing, in truth, too old for such sport, my soul finds pleasure in the time spent with Casper. I can hardly stand the anticipation for the day my son again lives and breathes. I await it with great joy and yet trepidation._

_The Lazarus has not been tested and I fear the damage it may do to my son. He cannot die again, this is of comfort but I fear his crossing over. I do not know either if he will come out just as he died, be it sick or well. If he is ill again shall I lose him twice? I fear also that he shall take the form of an infant. Though I would love my son no matter the form he should take; I still have that fear._

_Casper has shown no sign of my worries as he has all great faith in me, as all children do in their fathers. His memories are full and complete. He is happy enough and truly is my son. The kind heart of his does not wavier. I have suggested once that he might even wish to scare his uncles on one of their visits, the duration which he usually keeps himself hidden. But Casper will have none of it. My son has not a cruel bone in his body or lack thereof._

_He is however not disinclined to jests. My son had carved upon their beds the pet names they bore as children. Stretch, Fatso and Stinky. Stephen, Gregory and Walter were not too happy about this but did appreciate that I was in good humor, having thought it was my own doing. They have no idea it was their nephew up to such hijinks. _

_My brothers are rough and tumble men, more children truly, but they do care for my well being. Even Stephen, the harshest of their little 'trio' has expressed a spark of worry for my well being. He says it isn't natural for a body do spend his days in a labatory. I should find myself a woman or two and let myself live. My brothers believe wild is the only way to to do so._

_Tomorrow I shall try the Lazarus. I look forward to having my son in my arms once more. But even I fear something is amiss. There is great talk in town that I have gone insane. I have taken measures as such to insure for Casper's revival. _

_I have hidden an extra vile of the Lazarus formula within the library, in the appropriate book. And I have left word to my brothers that Casper is indeed with in the manor, though I admittedly encrypted them. I have written on the back of the deed a message. _

"_Buccaneers and buried gold. Whipstaff doth a treasure hold. " My Casper believes this to be a part of our pirate game. I can only hope my brothers remember that Casper's name means treasure or what he has meant to me. My brothers are roughens but they are not thick, save for Gregory's rather expansive waste line. I can only hope they acquire the clue. Stephen is by far the brightest of the three. If he cannot grasp it I know there is no hope. Surely he will understand my musings, mad as they seem. _

That was the last entry in the diary. Kat closed the book. Casper's dad had really loved him. She knew she had to do something to show Casper. His dad would have understood. Kat knew his heart would be broken but he would never, could never have been mad at Casper. If anything else he would be angered at his brothers.

Kat lifted her head in thought. Who'd have thought the trio actually was related to Casper. She never had thought about it. She wondered briefly if he were not perhaps their unfinished business. Kat pushed the thought out of her mind and left to find Casper. She had to tell Casper what she had found. She had to show him how wrong he was and…..

The library, the formula. There was another chance. Casper could be alive. He could be happy. Kat hated the idea of Casper being so sad. He usually had a way of making her so, he made everything seem brighter. Casper was the best friend she had ever had, the only one really. He deserved better.


	3. Hidden Treasure

**Disclaimer- I do not own **_**Casper.**_

Kat grabbed the few journals and ran down the halls. "Casper." She called. "Casper."

She huffed clambering down the stairs.. Sometimes she really wished Whipstaff wasn't so huge.

"Casper."

"Kat?" She ran into the room they 'shared'. Casper was on the balcony. She looked swiftly at the bed, remembering that he had died there and shivered.

"Casper." She said again. He turned around. "I found something you need to see." She handed him the journals with the pages she had bookmarked. His mouth gaped a little. "But that's."

"Umhmm."

Casper took the journals and opened the first page Kat had marked. He sighed. "Mom." He said simply. Kat gave a sympathetic smile. Losing your mother is bad enough but to be so small you could barley remember her, Kat could hardly imagine it.

She watched for the next couple of hours as Casper read the journal, hoping he would see how much his dad loved him and could never be mad at him.

Casper fingered the last entry. If only ghosts could cry. "Casper, are you okay?"

He nodded, smiling. "I remember, I was the treasure." His grin turned into laughter as he did a somersault.

All of a sudden they heard off key singing coming from downstairs. "Sounds like my uncles are home." Casper stopped a minute. "My uncles, Kat they're really my uncles."

Kat smiled at this. All though you couldn't call the trio much of a family; it must really be nice for Casper to have any family at all. Casper did another whoop in the air.

"I remember."

His face lit up. "Come on."

Casper grabbed her hand and yanked her across the hall, all the way to the library.

Kat looked around. She had never gotten a good look before. Over the fireplace mantle Was a portrait of a women, who had the same vivid blue eyes as Casper. Her hair was worn in long sandy curls. Kat remembered the Halloween Dance. That was the same color as Casper's….

"Is that your mom?" Casper looked. He nodded.

"She was beautiful."

"Dad always said that was his favorite painting."

Kat smiled. "I'll bet you look just like her."

Casper shrugged putting a hand behind his head. "Dad said so."

'Well lets have you looking again. Do you know what book your dad would have hid the formula in?" Casper zoomed around. He tried to remember what books his dad liked. And then it hit him. The book in the lab, _Frankenstein_, maybe there was a copy here.

Casper zoomed to the top shelf. "Got it."

"Hey Kat!"

Kat looked up as Casper zoomed down carefully holding the book in hand. He handed it to her and she opened it up. The bottle glowed red in the dim moonlight.

Kat grinned. "I hope this works."

So did Casper.


End file.
